WJJQ LOCAL NEWS
Rally at Lincoln Hills

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A t-shirt and some logos lead to a rally outside of an area school.

The rally took place outside of the Lincoln Hills School near Irma yesterday at noon. Nearly 100 people marched in familiar green union shirts to support an employee sent home because of a t-shirt with the union wordmark.

Last Thursday Ron McAllister said he arrived at work to find Union logos from his office were removed. He was also sent home after being told to remove his shirt which had the wordmark of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. That evening he received a call from the school apologizing about what transpired and said he would be allowed to return to work the following day.

Friday McAllister said he returned to work wearing a jacket and two shirts bearing the logo, and a steward instructed him to removing the clothing once again and left him bare chested. He was told to put the shirt back on and return to work.

McAllister indicated that he had a very good relationship with Superintendent Paul Westerhaus, and thought the directive came from higher up.

Department of Corrections officials sent a memo to staff members Friday evening saying that workers are allowed to wear union clothing, but they decided to continue with the rally. Various unions were represented at the event.

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